'Most annoying twins' don't care about label

THE British public labelled them "the most annoying twins in the world" after a YouTube clip on them went viral attracting more than three million views.

But Paula and Bridgette Powers, aka as the twinnies from the Twinnies Pelican and Seabird Rescue in Landsborough, laugh off the cruel suggestion.

"It's water off a duck's back," said one of them.

It's hard to know which one because they never answer the telephone with their name.

"It is both of us speaking," one says.

This is true as, throughout the telephone conversation, you can hear one twin completing the other's sentence.

It is this habit, they say they have had since they were born, that earned them the "most annoying twin" title.

"People can't stand us talking together" said Paulette (a new title I've christened for them to help ease the confusion of whom was talking)

"But we can't change who we are."

The twins were amused at how a video taken 14 years ago, which was placed on YouTube last year, suddenly captured the attention of the world.

All of a sudden they were being interviewed by major newspapers and television crews.

They also had DNA testing done in Melbourne for a television program earlier this year which mum, Helen, said showed their DNA was "100% the same".

"They were also 99.1% identical in another category," Mrs Powers said.

Their status as "the most annoying twins" appeared to have been usurped in April by two Perth sisters, Anna and Lucy DeCinque, who claimed to share more than identical looks. They also shared a boyfriend and spent a quarter of a million dollars on plastic surgery to make sure all parts, including their breasts, looked the same.

This disgusted our twinnies.

"We think its terrible (the other twins sharing a boyfriend). It's not normal whatsoever," they said.

"That's what you call crazy. It's also not right to get a boob job. We wouldn't change our bodies to make us identical.

"We love how we are."

The twinnies wouldn't mind finding love of their own.

But their mum doubts this will happen because of their health problems and the fact they are so inseparable.

For now, they are happy to share a room in the family's Landsborough home and devote their time to the birds who so desperately need them.

"We are still young. But we don't care if we never ever meet anyone," they said

'We have got one another for company. Relationships are not everything in life.

"Look at the celebrities, look what happens to their marriages."

The twins have also had a fair amount of health problems, which eerily mirror the other.

When one twin had an appendix out, the other had to have it done a month later.

"They are always sick at pretty much the same time," mum Helen said.

"Even their blood pressure is the same."

And when one twin had a breast cancer scare, the other soon also found a concerning lump.

The twins driving passion is to care for and protect their birds and, with limited funds, its a constant challenge.

Not even their new-found celebrity status could help them raise more money for their worthy cause.

And yet the number of birds needing care continues to grow and Mrs Powers fears will grow even more once Aura at Caloundra South has been built.

"It would be wonderful if developer Stockland would donate some land for the twins to continue their work".

The twins end our telephone conversation with what must be their favourite party trick.

"Did you notice while we were talking to you we swapped the phone," they asked.

No, I definitely didn't.

To learn more about the work the twinnies do to help our birds visit www.twinnies.com.au.